The Municipal Railway will reroute service on the 14, 22, 27, 33, 48, 49 and 67 lines. The best way to get to the parade is by taking BART to the 24th Street Mission or 16th Street Mission stations.

After the parade, musicians, artisans and classic lowrider cars will gather at the annual Cinco de Mayo festival at Civic Center Park, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Admission is $5.

In San Jose, the parade will begin at 9 a.m. tomorrow at Santa Clara and Delmas streets and proceed via Santa Clara and Market streets to Cesar Chavez Plaza. In past years, crowds of 200,000 or more have attended.

Today and tomorrow, Cinco de Mayo festivals take place in downtown San Jose at Discovery Meadow and at the San Jose Flea Market.

Today, police will close parts of Almaden Boulevard and Almaden Avenue. Tomorrow, police will close parts of Delmas, Autumn and River streets.

The Cinco de Mayo celebration -- often confused with Mexican Independence Day, which falls on September 16 -- celebrates the defeat in 1862 of Napoleon III's well-trained army by a ragtag Mexican cavalry division. Had the Mexicans not prevailed, Napoleon fully intended to march through to the United States and help the Confederacy in the Civil War.